Zurich Classic Of New Orleans 2022

Event Info

Starts: 21st April 2022
Course: TPC Louisiana, Louisiana
Par: 72 (36-36)
Length: 7,425 yards
Defending Champions: Marc Leishman & Cameron Smith

Preview
In-play

Preview

Course Info

Designer: Pete Dye
Used Since: 2005 (2017 for pairs)
Fairways: Generous.
Rough: Bermuda
Greens: TifEagle Bermuda (New greens since last event hosted here in 2019.
Water Hazards: 3,4,6,9,16,17,18.
Par 5's: 2nd, 7th, 11th and 18th
Premium on: Approach play and putting.

Significant Info

Continue to exercise caution in relation to Covid-19 related withdrawals.

It's the 5th time the Zurich Classic has been a pairs event.

There are 80 teams of two. Top 35 and ties make the cut.

72-hole format featuring Four-Ball on Thursday and Saturday and Foursomes Friday and Sunday.

This event wasn't played in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Weather

Thursday
Sunny with a mxiumum wind of 14mph.

Friday
Sunny with a maximum wind of 16mph.

Saturday
Possible thunderstorm in the afternoon and 17mph wind.

Sunday
Possible thunderstorms and 16mph wind.

Trends

We will analyse the winners of the previous three team events to find trends. Past winners include Cameron Smith/Marc Leishman (2021), Jon Rahm/Ryan Palmer (2019), Billy Horschel/Scott Piercy (2018), and Cameron Smith/Jonas Blixt (2017).

Winning Score
The last four team events have been won between -20 and -27. Birdies are the name of the game and expect another winning score in the high 20's.

Course Form
2021
Cameron Smith won this event in 2017 but missed the cut in 2018 and 2019. Marc Leishman was playing the pairs event for the first time but did post a couple of top 30 finishes when the event was an individual strokeplay event.
2019
Rahm had missed the cut in his only previous attempt with Wesley Bryan. Palmer had a previous solo 4th here in 2012 and 4th here in 2017 with Jordan Spieth.
2018
Horschel had won at the course in 2013 but Piercy had missed both cuts here as an individual.
2017
Blixt or Smith had no form to speak of in the previous individual editions at the Zurich Classic.

Recent Form
2021
Smith finished 9th the week before at Heritage and Leishman was 5th at the Masters on his last start.
2019
Palmer finished 28th at the Heritage the week before and Rahm was 9th at the Masters in his previous start.
2018
Piercy had missed the cut in his last start in Texas but had finished 16th at the Heritage the week before that. Horschel had finished 11th in Texas and 5th at Heritage.
2017
Smith had finished 6th at Texas and 29th at Heritage. Blixt had finished 44th in his last start at the Heritage. Solid recent form from the Heritage and Texas Open appears to be really important.

Winners Profile
Last year's winners, Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman already had multiple wins on tour. Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer in 2019 were both past winners on tour (although Palmer hadn't won since 2010). Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy were already proven winners too, Horschel had even won the Zurich Classic before in 2013. In 2017, Jonas Blixt had won on tour before but it was Cameron Smith's first win on tour. Ideally though, we are looking for a team that have both won on tour.

Nationality
Mix of Nationalties from from the three previous pairs winners. No trends identified.

Correlating Courses
There are trends with another Pete Dye designed courses, TPC Sawgrass. Home of The Players Championship, Sawgrass also demands accuracy off the tee and challenges players visually, as Dye likes to do. Harbour Town which was used last week is also a Dye design so recent form is an angle in at these courses.

Stats Analysis

No stats available due to team event.

In Play

Fast or Slow Start
The first and second pairs in 2021 were 3rd after the opening 18 holes. In 2019, Rahm/Palmer were 4 shots back after day one in 17th place but were leading from the halfway point onwards. Horschel/Piercy were 3 shots back after day one and 6 back at halfway before a 3rd round 61 put them 2 shots back heading into the final round. Smith and Blixt were 6 shots back after day one but led at halfway.

You don't need to be leading after day one here but you want to be up with the pace after the second round is completed.

Players We Almost Backed

NOTE - These are players who we shortlisted for this event but ultimately didn't advise to subscribers. If you want to find out who we did tip, you can subscribe using the link below.

55/1 Greyson Sigg & Sepp Straka
College team mates who are good friends, both have been playing well this year. However, price just a little on the short side for our liking.

150/1 Peter Uihlein & Richy Werenski
This pairing recorded a 3rd place finish in this event last year and it's not unfeasible that they repeat the result this time around. Uihlein was 2nd on the Korn Ferry Tour a few weeks ago and Werenski has been showing signs of form of late. We probably wanted closer to 200/1 to take a chance on them.

160/1 Tyler Duncan & Adam Schenk
These two have been a regular staple of this event with a couple of top 12 finishes. However, Schenk is struggling this year and both players really need to be on form in this pairing to have any chance.

In-play

Zurich Classic of New Orleans In-Play Blog

24 April 2022, 11am (UK time)

Player	Total
Cantlay/Schauffele	-29
Higgo/Grace	-24
Horschel/Burns	-23
Day/Scrivener	-23
Rai/Lipsky	-23
Clark/Tringale	-22

Eight birdies in their last nine holes has led to Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele taking a five shot lead over South African's Garrick Higgo and Brenden Grace.

They are now as short as 2/13 to convert and although we were caught out a couple of months ago when Daniel Berger threw away a similar lead, it's hard to see an experienced pair like them doing the same given their play so far this week.

The standard of the leaders play this week will have caught punters attention ahead of the PGA Championship in a few weeks, with both still available at 25/1 to win their maiden major. Cantlay in particular looks close to his best again and that price is unlikely to hold if you want to get him onside now.

From a betting perspective, this event feels like it's one to leave alone now and instead concentrate on an exciting final round in Spain this afternoon, which should offer all the ups and downs of a DP World Tour Sunday!

Round 4 Bet

No Bet

+ - Round 3 Bets Click to collapse

23 April 2022, 11am (UK time)

Player	Total
Cantlay/Schauffele	-17
Redman/Ryder	-16
Rai/Lipsky	-16
Clark/Tringale	-15
Higgo/Grace	-15
Two Teams Tied	-14

Cantlay and Schauffele have maintained their one shot lead at the top and have shortened to 5/4 in the betting. The reason for them shortening is probably due to the fact their are only seven pairs within five shots of the lead now and several market favourites have dropped out of the running. With two rounds to go though, it's not a price that we would entertain.

Aside from those Ryder Cup stars, we have a leaderboard mainly full of outsiders, many of which are yet to win a PGA Tour title. One of them could well find themselves in the lead tonight due to the low scoring nature of fourballs. The two teams at -15 - Higgo/Grace and Clark/Tringale - should make a charge but the value appears to be gone and we're kicking ourselves for not selecting Higgo and Grace at 125/1 yesterday.

Out of the other pre-tournament favourites, Burns and Horschel are the ones that have managed to keep themselves close enough to the lead and they remain 2nd favourites in the betting at 6/1. We would expect a big push from them today and Horschel has experience winning from behind here already but they also look a skinny price.

Truthfully, there are no odds or pairs exciting us enough to pull the trigger today but 22/1 on Day and Scrivener looks fair given how well they performed yesterday and we should see an improvement in their opening day fourball score.

Round 3 Bet

No Bet

+ - Round 2 Bets Click to collapse

22 April 2022, 10:25am (UK time)

Player	Total
Cantlay/Schauffele	-13
NeSmith/Moore	-12
Rai/Lipsky	-11
Gainey/Garrigus	-11
Redman/Ryder	-11
Three Teams Tied	-10

Ryder Cup partners Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele were able to snatch the lead at the end of the day yesterday and much of that was down to Cantlay's brilliance, chipping in on 17 and birdieing the last. They are now 9/5 to convert which is understandable, given they hold a three shot lead over any of the other favourites.

Every year we see this event return, we often find the leaderboard doesn't really begin to take shape until they are finished the foursomes today, where they don't have the luxury of the better ball. This puts a lot more pressure on the teams, and we usually find the cream starts to rise. For example if you look at the team of Gainey and Garrigus, we would expect them to fall down the leaderboard today as the pair relied on Gainey for most of the day.

Cantlay and Schauffele were a mixed bag in the foursomes last year, shooting 74 on Friday and 67 on Sunday, making predicting how they cope today a more difficult task.

Given the format, we would be hesitant to back the leaders at such a short price but it is also putting us off taking their nearest rivals. Horschel and Burns are closest to them in the market at 15/2 and Scheffler/Palmer and Morikawa/Hovland are around the 14-16/1 mark. Out of the three pairs, Horschel and Burns are most tempting but just a little too short. Hovland appeared to be some way off his best yesterday and Ryan Palmer isn't having his best year so may get found out in foursomes.

The wind looks set to be a factor in the afternoon, reaching 14mph, but the morning starters should get half of their round in with more favourable conditions.

Round 2 Bet

1pt Each Way Knox/Stuard 66/1 @ Betfair (1/5 1-5)

Given their solid, accurate styles, we would expect this pair to play their best stuff in foursomes where they can keep the ball in play and hit more greens than a lot of the other pairs. Nine under par was an impressive score yesterday in a format that we wouldn't think would suit, and with an early tee time today, they look nicely placed to keep their heads whilst others falter. With Cantlay and Schauffele in a strong position, this play offers us nice each way value.

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